Arizona Chickens

[cyborg]

I have no idea what Blackjack #57 is, but would love to be enlightened.

I'm new to keeping chickens but decided after doing about a year's worth of research to try deep litter, pine shavings specifically. I filled my brooder with about 4 inches of it and the chicks thrived. Now that they're all in the coop, the litter is about 6 inches deep and I add to it every few weeks as they continue to grow. Again, no health problems at all so far and the chicks seem to really like it. Once I have their run completed, I'll probably coat most of the floor of the run with compost material, which I'll add scraps to on a daily basis, and let them go to town with it, especially during our colder months. Hopefully in about a year's time I'll have some nice compost to use in my garden beds.

I use bagged compost in my run, and throw in greenhouse cuttings fairly often. Works great! (P.S., my run is covered with tarps, so is fairly waterproof. What with waterer spillage, and what leaks around the edges of the tarps, it is usually pretty dry. During the summer, I wet it down with a hose every day).

 

[DesertChic]

I use bagged compost in my run, and throw in greenhouse cuttings fairly often. Works great! (P.S., my run is covered with tarps, so is fairly waterproof. What with waterer spillage, and what leaks around the edges of the tarps, it is usually pretty dry. During the summer, I wet it down with a hose every day).

We've been talking about using tarps atop the run. I built the walls of the run to be over 6 feet high, and will be adding a "roof" for shade and protection for aerial predators. We stationed this run on the east side of the house, which gets the least amount of rain, but I'm still worried about the first rain fall. The run is about 1/2 complete with many more hours of work ahead of us, as I just had to design a modular version that could be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere on our property. (I'm starting to think I'm a bit of a masochist.

)

We have a shed filled with stuff we haven't looked at for about 10 years that I'm trying to convince my husband into letting me convert into a larger, secure and protected chicken coop for my more mature birds...once I actually have mature birds. I think I'm wearing him down, but until I see things going to donation or the dumpster I won't know for sure.

I'm also thinking of raising black soldier flies this spring. I really do prefer to feed my birds wholesome, natural foods more indicative of what chickens evolved to eat. (I'm a food snob at heart, I guess.)

 

[cyborg]

If you love coffee, you understand.

I do love my coffee, but I hate Starbucks! Just got a 5 pounder of whole bean organic Chiapas coffee in the mail Friday, sipping some now!

 

[cyborg]

We've been talking about using tarps atop the run. I built the walls of the run to be over 6 feet high, and will be adding a "roof" for shade and protection for aerial predators. We stationed this run on the east side of the house, which gets the least amount of rain, but I'm still worried about the first rain fall. The run is about 1/2 complete with many more hours of work ahead of us, as I just had to design a modular version that could be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere on our property. (I'm starting to think I'm a bit of a masochist.

)

We have a shed filled with stuff we haven't looked at for about 10 years that I'm trying to convince my husband into letting me convert into a larger, secure and protected chicken coop for my more mature birds...once I actually have mature birds. I think I'm wearing him down, but until I see things going to donation or the dumpster I won't know for sure.

I'm also thinking of raising black soldier flies this spring. I really do prefer to feed my birds wholesome, natural foods more indicative of what chickens evolved to eat. (I'm a food snob at heart, I guess.)

I built mine kind of modular and covered the top with chicken wire on the outside, and the tarps on the inside, (for the roof. Chicken wire/shade cloth on the walls) and it works very well. Just bought a new house with a much larger yard, and building a new (much larger) chicken yard using the same modular design based on 8 ft X 8 ft panels, but this time I'm using 2X4 welded wire fencing on the outside of the wall panels, with shade cloth on the inside. Haven't decided yet on the roof panels, but after seeing @desertmarcy's setup, I'm leaning toward corrugated steel roofing.

 

[MagicChicken]

If you use corrugated steel roofing make sure you allow for heat to vent at the top. Desertmarcy's setup works so well partly because there is an opening at the peak to let out the heat. I have a sloping metal roof on one coop/run that wasn't designed as well as Desertmarcy's and it traps heat. That coop/run is open on one side and has screened windows in the other sides, but that roof still trapped a lot of heat. It was like a radiator sending heat into the coop/run until I built a frame with a shadecloth cover over the top of it. It's an ugly workaround but it works. I used 3/4" plywood and rolled roofing for the breeding pens. They are much cooler than the metal-roofed structure.

 

[City farm]

I was so excited to hear when a African grey parrot from California, named Nigel escaped. When he flew the coop he had a British accent, when he was returned he spoke Spanish.. I love this! I am always saying to everyone that I am going to teach our pets another language.. This is. So insiring, now what language.. I kinda have an idea, but would like to hear how all the commands sound... He said " Cheerio, Buenos Dias" what a little stinker...

 

[cyborg]

If you use corrugated steel roofing make sure you allow for heat to vent at the top.  Desertmarcy's setup works so well partly because there is an opening at the peak to let out the heat. I have a sloping metal roof on one coop/run that wasn't designed as well as Desertmarcy's and it traps heat.  That coop/run is open on one side and has screened windows in the other sides, but that roof still trapped a lot of heat.  It was like a radiator sending heat into the coop/run until I built a frame with a shadecloth cover over the top of it.  It's an ugly workaround but it works.  I used 3/4" plywood and rolled roofing for the breeding pens.  They are much cooler than the metal-roofed structure.

Yes, I was thinking about that. What I was planning will be very similar to desertmarcys setup, with 8 x 16 pens facing each other, with a walkway between. The pens will be wire/ shade cloth on all 4 walls for plenty of ventilation, with sloping roofs for rain runoff. That koolkote white paint on the roof will protect it from rust, and cuts down the heat dramatically. I have a hay barn now with this roof, with one open side to the east, and it stays pretty cool.
All I really need is some time off from some of the other projects on my bucket list! My current priority is a new leach field for my septic tank.

 

[DesertChic]

If you use corrugated steel roofing make sure you allow for heat to vent at the top. Desertmarcy's setup works so well partly because there is an opening at the peak to let out the heat. I have a sloping metal roof on one coop/run that wasn't designed as well as Desertmarcy's and it traps heat. That coop/run is open on one side and has screened windows in the other sides, but that roof still trapped a lot of heat. It was like a radiator sending heat into the coop/run until I built a frame with a shadecloth cover over the top of it. It's an ugly workaround but it works. I used 3/4" plywood and rolled roofing for the breeding pens. They are much cooler than the metal-roofed structure.

I built mine kind of modular and covered the top with chicken wire on the outside, and the tarps on the inside, (for the roof. Chicken wire/shade cloth on the walls) and it works very well. Just bought a new house with a much larger yard, and building a new (much larger) chicken yard using the same modular design based on 8 ft X 8 ft panels, but this time I'm using 2X4 welded wire fencing on the outside of the wall panels, with shade cloth on the inside. Haven't decided yet on the roof panels, but after seeing @desertmarcy's setup, I'm leaning toward corrugated steel roofing.

Our 4' x 6' coop is covered with rolled roofing, but given its small footprint and very "airy" construction, I'm concerned it will not offer enough protection from rain. We keep debating what to use on the run to proved more protection from the elements, while still allowing the roofing material to potentially be switched out as needed. Chicken wire would deter aerial predators while allowing warming sunlight in during the winter months, but offers not protection against rain, which is why we considered tarps on at least part of the run, but the winds at my house are notoriously bad thanks to our close proximity to the mountains and mines. We're afraid tarps will just be ripped to shreds even though we stationed this run and coop on the most sheltered side of the house.

Metal roofing would offer plenty of shade and protection from the elements, but as MagicChicken suggested, it can get pretty hot if not set up properly. I really like the idea of shade cloth since it will allow air flow to continue while still providing at least some protection from the sun and even a bit from the rain, but will it be enough? I've even looked at grass/reed covering. I know I could plant ivy or grapes to grow on the outside of the coop and up to the roof, which would naturally replace the grass covering it matures and provide both natural shade and a sweet treat, all at the same time, but it requires a lot of patience...not one of my virtues. Right now I'm considering panels that can be switched out in accordance with the weather....kind of like switching out glass for screens in your storm door with the changing seasons. And then there's the cost of it all.

The run itself is constructed of a mix of 8' long and 4' long modular walls constructed from 2x4s and 1 inch wire mesh attached with staples and screws + washers. Because the area we set this all up is sort of a "walk-thru", I'm adding a human-sized door at each end. Once we have all the panels in place I'll be burying 4-6" of wire mesh around the perimeter to deter burrowing animals. We made the run roughly 24' x 16' to allow room for growth (I have 10 chickens), and to possibly allow us to add another small coop inside.

This is my first and primary "chicken area" for my first flock at least while they're young. My ultimate goal is to convert another significant portion of our back yard (it's about 1/2 - 1 acre in size) to a free range chicken area with coops for breeding, keeping the brooder (so it doesn't have to be in my office), and free-ranging the chickens, right next to my garden. Then I'll use this first area as the "starter position" for pullets until I know they're large enough to range safely without looking like a snack to the raptors. I also hope to have Muscovy ducks in the future, but promised my husband to wait at least a year until we're used to the chickens.

 

[pipemum]

I've tried vines up the side of the coop and it's not working out very well. Each vine has, like, 1 main tendril growing. From the inside, the chickens peck at the vines and have severed all the other tendrils. My young passion flower vine is doing great and spreading across the top portion of the coop, but it's all from that one main tendril. If that gets severed by a curious beak, than that's it for the vine. My Tombstone rose is in a similar boat--the chickens have eaten all the leaves from the 1st 2' of the plant, but there is ONE reaching tendril that is starting to climb. That vine is thick enough to escape beaks, but it is really awkward looking. Most of the real shade comes from reed fencing cut to fit, shadecloth, and the metal roof.

I did not realize how dependent I've been on eggs for protein and baking, but now that I'm not getting any, I've almost *gasp* considered going to the store for eggs. I may have to if I bake anything for the holidays. The molt is still going strong in my 4 layers. I've been supplementing with plenty of sunflower seeds, fresh greens, and mealworms. I get maybe 1 egg every 3 or 4 days. Ugh, and I've read that moulting can last FOREVER!!! The 4 pullets...getting closer to laying every day but still not contributing--and they have horrible personalities as well.

 

[DesertChic]

I've tried vines up the side of the coop and it's not working out very well. Each vine has, like, 1 main tendril growing. From the inside, the chickens peck at the vines and have severed all the other tendrils. My young passion flower vine is doing great and spreading across the top portion of the coop, but it's all from that one main tendril. If that gets severed by a curious beak, than that's it for the vine. My Tombstone rose is in a similar boat--the chickens have eaten all the leaves from the 1st 2' of the plant, but there is ONE reaching tendril that is starting to climb. That vine is thick enough to escape beaks, but it is really awkward looking. Most of the real shade comes from reed fencing cut to fit, shadecloth, and the metal roof.

I did not realize how dependent I've been on eggs for protein and baking, but now that I'm not getting any, I've almost *gasp* considered going to the store for eggs. I may have to if I bake anything for the holidays. The molt is still going strong in my 4 layers. I've been supplementing with plenty of sunflower seeds, fresh greens, and mealworms. I get maybe 1 egg every 3 or 4 days. Ugh, and I've read that moulting can last FOREVER!!! The 4 pullets...getting closer to laying every day but still not contributing--and they have horrible personalities as well.

I read in books and on other threads that giving them a lot more protein during molt helps shorten the duration. I can't speak from personal experience, but I've encountered several people who feed hard-boiled eggs, sprouted grains, Black Soldier Flies, and/or anchovies during molt with good results. I hope they come through it soon so you don't have to resort to drastic measures like buying eggs from the store.